Microsoft launches the Lumia 950 and 950 XL in India

Microsoft has launched its latest flagships, the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, in India. They were unveiled in October as the brand’s first flagships running Windows 10 operating system. The new Lumias offer ClearBlack OLED displays with 2K resolution – the highest on Microsoft smartphones yet. They are also equipped with Microsoft’s Glance Screen feature that displays notifications on the lockscreen without draining battery life.

The Microsoft Lumia 950 sports a 5.2-inch display with a pixel density of 564ppi, while the Lumia 950 XL has a larger 5.7-inch screen (~518ppi). The former is powered by a 1.8GHz hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor, while the latter hides a 2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 810 SoC under the hood. The Lumia 950 is backed by a 3,000mAh battery, while its XL variant gets a larger 3,340mAh unit. The rest of their specs are similar.

They offer 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory, further expandable up to 2TB via microSD cards. Camera-wise, they sport 20-megapixel PureView snappers with Zeiss optics, 5th-gen OIS, triple RGB natural flash and dedicated camera buttons. There are 5-megapixel sensors at front for selfies. The two phones are also equipped with reversible USB Type-C port. The other connectivity options include 4G LTE (Indian bands supported), dual-SIM slots, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and GPS. The phones support fast charging, and can be juiced up wirelessly as well. Both the Lumia 950 and 950 XL also support retina-based biometric authentication, a feature dubbed Windows Hello.

The new smartphones run Windows 10 Mobile, and are the first phones to run the latest platform from Redmond. Thanks to universal apps that can run on phones as well as laptops, the devices also offer Continuum, a feature that basically lets you use your phone as a PC when connected to a large-screen display. For this, you’d also need the Microsoft Display Dock, an accessory priced at Rs 5,999.

The Lumia 950 has been priced at Rs 43,699, while the Lumia 950 XL will be available for Rs 49,399. The smartphones will be available from December 11th, but starting today, the two phones can be pre-booked via Microsoft Priority resellers across the country, electronics chains like Croma, Reliance and Sangeetha, and online via Amazon India. The Display Dock will be offered free to those who pre-book one of the smartphones, and Airtel subscribers can also avail a double data offer.